MANILA, Philippines — Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Friday issued a challenge to China to bring their latest claim to the International Court of Justice for an arbitration ruling that Batanes is part of their territory by way of it being a supposed extension of Taiwan.
“Any country has the right to claim provided it can prove its claim so my challenge to China is why don’t we bring that issue to the International Court of Justice that they owned the Batanes Islands, that it is part of the natural prolongation of Taiwan,” Carpio told reporters in an interview.
“Why don’t we just go to an arbitral tribunal and we will get a definite ruling because with what’s happening they want to claim everything,” Carpio said.
At a recent symposium at the Jinan University in Guangzhou, China, Chinese academics "unanimously concluded" that the Batanes Islands are a "natural geographical extension of Taiwan"—and because Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan, they argued sovereignty over Batanes belongs to China as well.
This statement sparked strong condemnations and pushbacks from various Philippine authorities including Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the National Maritime Council and the Department of Foreign Affairs among others.
Carpio also urged China to bring forth their claims in other areas within the West Philippine Sea as well especially Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) which has been under de facto control of China since 2012.
“Go ahead, bring a case to the international court of justice we will meet there, we will abide by the ruling.
“We will also bring the issue of the island in the South China Sea, your claim to the Scarborough Shoal, you bring that together also, in one case it can be settled. If they really believe they own it, they should fight for it in the international court of justice,” Carpio said.
